


4 Hours

by geckointhegarbage



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Complete, Langst, M/M, klangst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-13
Updated: 2017-08-14
Packaged: 2018-12-14 23:27:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 6,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11793666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geckointhegarbage/pseuds/geckointhegarbage
Summary: Hour 1: Two Paladins of Voltron enter Zarkon's ship for a simple extraction missionHour 4: Only one Paladin escapes.





	1. Hour 0

**Author's Note:**

> This is (somewhat) of a sequel to "Find Him, Promise Me". That fic is only important for some background info in the first part though. Also available on wattpad under the same name, under the username @snowdoglover1

“Hey, Keith?” Lance stuck his head into the door of the training deck. “Dinner’s ready.”

 

Keith didn’t hear him. Not over the noise of his own thoughts. Keith hadn’t been the same since the trip to find Shiro. They didn’t find him, though they thought they had. The person they did find they named Kuro, and he was a perfect clone of Shiro. He could have chosen to be Shiro, but in the end, he decided to put himself aside and confess he was a clone, right when he died. Of course, everyone was devastated. But no one was hit harder than Keith and Matt.

 

Matt had been Shiro’s boyfriend, and the two were inseparable, until Shiro was taken from him. Matt made it his sole mission to locate Shiro, and get him back. He had been coping by counting stars, literally. He had his own cabin, in which the walls were covered in numbers and charts. In his spare time (which is all the time) he counted and charted nearby stars, sometimes crafting replicas of them with clay. Keith had a much more dangerous method.

 

Keith spent his days crying, or when he simply couldn’t anymore, he lay in his bed, for hours and hours on end. He only came out at mealtimes, or when Allura and Lance force him to. Lance tried his best to comfort him, but he knew that this is a matter of time, and it is going to take a while for him to get his… actually, what is Keith to Lance?

 

A buddy? A pal? Or something more? They didn’t have time to think about that though. There were more important things for them to busy themselves with.

 

Keith got up from his corner on the training deck. “Tell Allura I am on my way,” he said, mindlessly. He wasn’t planning on coming to dinner. He then saw that Lance wasn’t moving. “Lance?” Keith moved forward a bit, just so he could see the blade protruding from Lance’s chest.

 

\---

“LANCE!” Keith cried. He ran to him, just as Lance crumpled into his arms. The blade was drawn out, and Keith had a good look at Lance’s killer. _It was him_. It was Keith, dressed in black, using the black bayard. “No,” Keith whispered, stroking Lance’s hair. The Cuban boy was already dead, his blood pooling around the two of them.

 

“Why?” Keith asked Dark Keith, who simply shrugged and said, “You did this to Shiro. Now feel the consequences upon someone you love.”

 

“NO!” Keith screamed as he awoke, in sweat. Lance was asleep beside him. Keith panted, and gently touched Lance’s face to make sure he was breathing. He was, and Keith’s pulse began to slow down. He was alive, Lance was alive, and that’s all that matters. _But Shiro might not be alive,_ he thought. _You could have killed him in the ring. You could be his MURDERER._ Keith began to cry, tears slowly making tracks down his face, one by one, but someone wiped them away.

“Hey buddy, you okay?” Lance asked groggily. He turned his body to face Keith, and wiped away some more tears that were making their way down his face. 

 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Go back to sleep,” Keith said, trying to turn away, but Lance put his hand on Keith’s shoulder. 

 

“Really, what’s wrong?” Lance asked him, worried. 

 

“Nothing okay? Now shut up or you will wake Pidge.” Keith said, motioning towards Pidge and Ryou who were asleep on the floor. Hunk had the bed on the other side of the room, and Matt decided he didn't want to join the sleepover. Allura was probably resting in her room. She had to wormhole them away from Zarkon’s ship, and made a pretty big jump. 

 

“Keith, I know you're not okay. Now talk to me, please,” Lance whispered, quieter than he was before. “Was it the dreams again?” 

 

Keith took a deep breath. “Yes,” he whispered. “You came and asked if I was going to join you and the rest of the team at dinner. I said I was on my way, then I saw a blade through your stomach. mI ran to help you, but you had already died. I looked up and it was me, Lance. It was me with the blade.” He pulled in his legs, and curled up into a ball. 

 

Lance didn’t know what to say. He sat up and put a hand on Keith’s shoulder. He knew he was going through a hard time, and was determined to help get Keith through it. “Hey,” he said softly. Keith turned his head back to him. “You’re gonna get through this,  _ we’re  _ gonna get through this, together.” 

 

And with that, Keith gave Lance a hug, and fell asleep. 

\---

 

“Guys, c’mon, we are gonna be late!” Pidge’s voice washed over Lance and Keith. 

 

“What?” Lance asked, removing his arm from under Keith’s head. “Mission or something?” 

 

“Yes! Now get up before someone dies!” Pidge yelled at them. Before she walked out the door she smirked, “That’s pretty gay guys.” Then she ran out the door to her lion. 

 

Both of the boys didn’t notice Lance was holding Keith until Pidge made her comment. They both screamed, Keith being knocked to the floor, then running out to his lion. Lance was left behind laughing, until Matt passed by the room, and got him off the bed and to the lion’s bay. 

 

As they got into their lion’s, Coran briefed them on the situation. 

 

“This one’s a toughy, guys. We received a distress signal from an icy planet, claiming that some of the residents had been taken by Prince Lotor. Our mission is to return the residents to their home planet and find out why Lotor went for them. The reason this might be difficult is that we can only send in two lions. There isn’t enough space for everyone to head in. So, decide among yourselves who will be going in.” Coran ended his speech there, as the team reached the ship. 

 

“So... who wants to head in?” Hunk asked the team, clearly nervous of being nominated. Lance and Keith both shifted in their seats. Neither of them wanted to go in, but had a feeling the team would choose them. 

 

“Well, I think Keith and Lance should go in,” Allura’s voice suggested. 

_ Great,  _ though Keith.  _ The last thing I wanted to deal with today.  _

 

“Uh, are you sure about that?” Lance’s voice sounded  _ scared?  _ That was odd. It was very unlike him to be this way. 

 

“Yes. You both work really well as a team. You guys should go in,” Pidge said. She sounded very confident.  _ Easy for her, she doesn’t have to go in.  _

 

“So, are we all in agreement that Keith and Lance are going in? Pidge sounded very confident.  _ Of course she did, she wasn’t the one going in.  _

 

“Yeah, I guess we are,” Hunk’s voice confirmed that both Keith and Lance would go in together. Both of them sighed, and started the approach the the landing area as Pidge described the plan to them. 

 

“Move in slowly, then land on the gray pad over there. It used to be a landing dock for cruisers, but is now out of use,” Pidge’s voice guided both Lance and Keith to the gray landing dock that was located to the left of the ship. “This was used by battlecruisers, but is now out of use, so it’s safe to land here.”   The red and black lions landed silently, and both paladins exited. 

 

“I am now going to shut off the coms,” Coran’s statement surprised the two. Why would he need to turn them off? “I know you two are frightened, but don’t be. This is just an extraction mission. The coms will turn back on when one of you returns here. We have to do it since we just got intel that Lotor could intercept the coms.” 

 

“How will we talk to you?” Lance’s voice was shaky. He couldn’t bare the thought that he could go in and never go out.  Keith was with him. He didn’t like that they wouldn’t be able to call for backup if things got sketchy. 

 

“You won’t be able to. I’m sorry, but it’s just a security measure,” Allura told them. “We will be waiting here until you return, and will come after you if you don’t come out in 4 hours.” 

 

This didn’t assure either boy, but they had a job to do. With one final goodbye and goodluck, they headed into the ship. 


	2. Hour 1, Part 1

“So… where do we go from here?” Lance asked Keith, pursing his lips. He didn’t like being here alone, with only one other person to help him. 

 

“Pidge sent us each a map. We just follow it, get the prisoners, then get out as soon as we can,” Keith said all of this while looking down at his wrist, where a map showed a clear route to the cell the prisoners were being held in. They began to follow the map. He tried his best to avoid Lance’s eyes. Of all the people they could’ve sent him in with, they chose  _ Lance? _ There was nothing wrong with Lance, of course, but Keith couldn’t help but wonder why the team nominated Lance with him. He knew they worked well together, but that wasn’t very often. Most of the time they fought, so why did the team want Lance with him? 

 

He couldn’t think about it anymore, however, as he and Lance had hit the cell. The corridor they were in was patrolled by drones, and Pidge had already shut them down. Keith used the 3D render of a guard’s face to open the cell. It was dark. 

 

“Hello?” Lance called. “Anyone in here?” There was a sudden shuffling noise.    
  


“Yes, please save us!” a gruff voice replies. Lance and Keith ran in towards the back of the cell, but found nothing. 

 

_ CLANG!  _ The cell door closed behind them, leaving them both in complete darkness.  _ No. This can’t be like last time.  _

 

Luckily, it wasn’t going to be like last time. 

 

It was going to be worse. 


	3. Hour 1, Part 2

“Looks like they took the bait,” Lotor’s voice echoed around the two paladins, who were now back to back, bayards ready. “Oh, and their coms are off too. Can’t call for backup, can you, young paladins?”

 

Both boys were alert. How could they have fallen in so easily? “Well, isn’t this boring? Why don’t we...make this interesting,” Lotor’s voice cooed. 

 

Suddenly, a hatch opened in the floor, and a platform lifted a figure into the room. A spotlight shone on it, illuminating...Shiro? He was tied to a chair, and gagged. He was wearing the standard prison attire. He was struggling against his bonds. Keith made a step towards him before Lance grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. 

 

“Stop! It might not be him,” Lance’s words washed over Keith, and he stepped down. Lance was right. It could be another clone. 

 

“Oh, but it is your Shiro,” Lotor’s voice said. “This is him, in the flesh.” At that, Lotor gave a loud, piercing laugh. Shiro looked at them, and continued to struggle, trying to convey to the two paladins that he was indeed Shiro. 

 

The boys didn’t believe Lotor. He wouldn’t have put their Shiro directly in front of them like this. There has to be some sort of catch. Slowly, Keith approached Shiro. Lance followed. Shiro stopped struggling long enough to look Keith in the eye. The two stared at each other for a few seconds, realizing that the other was in fact real, and exactly who they had been hoping to find. 

 

“That...that really is Shiro, isn’t it?” Lance whispered to Keith. Keith, still staring at Shiro, gave a small nod, and Lance smiled. 

 

Both boys went to remove the gag and bonds on Shiro, not remembering that Lotor was there, and not seeing the net fall from above. 

 

The net fell directly on Keith and Lance both, as they reached out. Shiro began to panic again, as before he was trying to tell them of Lotor’s plan. Lotor didn’t want Voltron this time, he already had his ship he made from the comet. No, this time he was after the paladins. 

 

He had sent Narti to the planet, and had her locate their leader. Narti made the leader make the distress call to the ship, in which he knew the paladins would answer. He planned on catching at least one paladin out of the five, and using him or her as bargaining, for what he really wanted. Shiro didn’t know what Lotor was really after, but he knew immediately he had to warn whoever came in as soon as he could. And Lotor’s plan had worked flawlessly, not just getting one paladin, but two. Lotor knew already that these two were very close. He decided to have a little fun with them. What would one do if he had to kill the other? Lotor was ready to find out. 


	4. Hour 2, Part 1

“Keith, try and slash through this net!” Lance shouted to Keith. Both were lying on the ground, fighting the purple net with their hands and bayards. Lance had already tried shooting at it with his gun, the shot had reflected back at him and hit him in his left arm. He was nursing it best he could while fighting the net. 

 

“I’m trying! But it won’t cut!” Keith continued to struggle, fighting the net best he could. Then he heard footsteps. They were light, but they were heading in their direction. Shiro was still struggling to break free. 

 

“Shh! Someone’s coming,” Keith snapped at Lance, who promptly stopped struggling and turned his attention to Keith’s right, where the footsteps were coming from. They were light, but quick. Suddenly, in one second, both were lifted off the ground and picked up in the net. Lance was now on top of Keith, squished in rather uncomfortably. They couldn’t see who was carrying the net, and had no idea where they were going. Keith watched as Shiro’s face faded away. He didn’t know this was the last time he would ever see him. 

 

The person who was carrying them stopped after about 5 minutes, and spilled them both onto the floor as if they were a bag of flour. Lance and Keith sprang to their feet, but there was no sign of anyone else. 

 

The new room they were in was brightly lit, and it was an arena. There was no one else there, except Lance, Keith, and Lotor. 

 

Lotor sat on the throne at the other end. He wore purple armor, but wasn’t carrying a weapon. He smirked at the two, then jumped onto the arena floor, walking slowly towards Keith and Lance. Both charged for him. 

 

“No, no. We don’t have time for that,” said Lotor, casually. He swept his right hand quickly in front of his face, and both Lance and Keith had handcuffs and shackles on them. They both hit the floor, grunting. 

 

“My playthings have finally arrived. Who knew I had to go through so much trouble just to get some quality entertainment?” Lotor said maliciously to the paladins. He kneeled down to them. “Which one of you would like to volunteer to go first?”

 

Keith struggled against his bonds. “You won’t get away with this, Lotor! Voltron is just outside your door. You could be destroyed in a matter of minutes!” he yelled. Lance kicked him in the shin. Lotor wanted to make them angry. If they don’t talk, he won’t gain anything. Also, he may have not known that all the lions were here, but now he does. Both paladins stopped struggling, and simply looked up at Lotor.

 

“Not talking anymore, are we? Guess I will just have to choose,” Lotor put a finger under Lance’s chin. “Hmm...you will be the perfect candidate.” 

 


	5. Hour 2, Part 2

“Candidate for what?” Lance snapped at Lotor. Lotor smirked, and removed his finger form under Lance’s chin, letting his head hit the floor. 

“Remove the blue one’s chains, but take his weapon. He won’t be using that one,” Lotor turned and headed back to his throne, crossing his legs. Lance’s chains fell, and he jumped to his feet. Keith was still chained. Lance leaned down, as to unchain Keith, but a laser was fired from somewhere near Lotor, and grazed his chin. 

Lance shrieked in pain, and stood. “No, no. Can’t have you setting your..friend free,” Lotor paused before he said friend. What did he know? “Lance, I would like you to choose a weapon.” As Lotor said this, an array of weapons were lowered onto the arena floor, using some invisible force. Lance hesitated. 

“Why do I need a weapon? Is it to run you through like a shish-ka-bob?” Lance said, grinding his teeth. Lotor let out a small laugh. 

“Not me,” Lotor nodded his head towards Keith. “Him.” 

It didn’t take long for Lance to realize what Lotor meant. Keith knew right away too. He lifted his head slightly to make eye contact with Lance, confirming what he thought. 

Lotor was going to have Lance kill Keith.


	6. Hour 2, Part 3

“No…,” Lance backed away, a look of horror on his face.  _ He can’t make me kill him. He can’t.  _ Lotor simply widened his smile, his fangs showing. Keith didn’t make any noise, but he was the loudest. He was going to die today. This was it. No one was coming for them. No one was going to save them. He thought of all the times at the Garrison they told him his impulse would get him into trouble. He wish he listened to them. Maybe then he wouldn’t be here now, by Lance’s feet, about to die, by his...friend’s hand. Both boys still hadn’t come up with what their relationship is, or was. It will be was soon. 

 

“Go on. Choose your weapon,” Lotor egged on Lance, towards the weapons. Lance dug his feet into the arena floor. 

 

“No,” he barked at Lotor, who didn’t react. 

“Fine,” he replied, beckoning at someone over his shoulder, who both Keith and Lance couldn’t see. “Then I will make you.” 

 

Before Lance knew it, one of Lotor’s generals, Narti, had knocked him to the ground. Lance tried to get up, but was pushed down by her foot, as another figure approached. Lance felt a sting in his neck, and then….nothing. 

 

Lance got up from the ground, but there was something different about him, Keith could tell. Even though he could just see his feet, he could tell Lance was holding himself differently. He was more slouched, and seemed sadder. Something was wrong. 

 

Suddenly, something pushed Keith up, and into a chair that was placed behind. It happened so quickly, that all the air was sucked out of his lungs. It took him a few seconds to breathe again. He blinked, and noticed Lance. He was on the floor, on his back, his limbs sprawled all around him, and he was mumbling something. Keith could only hear parts of it. 

 

“Loser...not worth anything...extra...he will never…,” Lance continued to ramble like this for minutes. Lotor just watched, amused. 

“What did you do to him?” Keith yelled. Lotor sighed.

 

“A truth serum. This will help him...get out of his shell.”

 

Lance had stopped mumbling, and he seemed to realize where he was. He went back onto his feet. “What happened?” his words were slurred. 

 

“Nothing at all,” Lotor said, “Just wanted you to, ah, loosen up.” 

 

Lance was still confused, but he felt much better. For a few minutes there, he felt like someone was hitting him in the head with a hammer, and instead of blood spilling, it was his self doubts and problems. Those didn’t matter though. Not now. He turned and saw Keith, who was now in a chair. He was no longer bound, but he didn’t seem to realize that. He was looking at Lance sympathetically. Lance was now more confused, but turned his attention back on Lotor, who was beginning to speak again. 

 

“So,” he said, getting up, and reaching a door. “Let the games begin.” 


	7. Hour 2, Part 4

Lotor left the room, and went up to the box above them. He took a seat, and said, "Choose your weapon." His voice boomed all around them.

"We are not fighting each other!" Keith said, standing up from the chair.

"Yes you are," Lotor said, twirling some sort of berry in his hands. "The net had small needles, and according to this," Lotor pulled out a small device that looked similar to a cell phone, "both of you have been injected with a serum that will allow me to control you, if only temporary." He pressed a button, and Keith fell to the ground.

He thrashed around, acting like he was fighting something, maybe a monster. He looked terrified at something he was seeing, and tried to claw at what was in front of him, which happened to be Lance. Lance had crouched down, and was trying to help Keith, get back on his feet. No matter how much Keith hit and clawed at Lance, he would not let go. He continues to try to bring him to his feet, even when Keith punched him in the eye. Lotor watched, amused.

Then Keith was still. He was unmoving. Lance held him, thinking he was dead. This reminded him of the "bonding moment".

He would remember to tell him that he knew about it before he passed.


	8. Hour 3, Part 1

“K-Keith?” Lance whispered, stuttering. He was holding Keith’s body in his arms, his tears flowing down his cheeks and hitting Keith’s face. Lotor was still watching all of this happen. He now seemed bored. 

 

“He’s not dead,” Lotor said dully. Lance looked back at him, then at Keith's body. He took his hand, and was able to feel a pulse. His spirits surged upward. Keith was alive. They could make it out alive. 

 

Suddenly, Keith bolted upright, accidently hitting Lance in the head. Lance didn’t care. He went in for a hug from him. Lance hugged Keith, but Keith did nothing. Lance pulled away, confused. 

 

Keith got up and walked away from Lance, his body stiff and straight, which was unlike him. Lance knew then something was wrong. Keith had gone over to weapons, and picked up a sword, with a wickedly sharp edge. He turned to Lance, and charged. 

 

“Now it gets interesting,” said Lotor, sitting at the edge of his seat. Lance dodged Keith’s sword just in time, it just grazed his chest. He rolled to the left. Keith stabbed there, and Lance dodged again, sprinting to the opposite side of the arena. 

 

“Keith!” he panted as he ran, “It’s me! Lance!” He dodged another swing as Keith followed him. “Your buddy! Your pal! Your Lance!” Keith continued to swing at him, clearly getting frustrated. Lance was getting frustrated too. What was wrong with him?

 

“He can’t hear you,” said Lotor, enjoying the show. “You need to fight him in order to get your friend back.” Lance was horrified, for many reasons. The first being that he had to fight Keith, his teammate. He would never be able to bring himself to fight him. The second being that he knew he was not skilled enough to take on Keith. Keith was faster, smarter, and was really good with a sword. Lance knew he was mediocre with a gun, and knew he couldn’t hit Keith, even is he was slower. He could never bring himself to shoot him.

 

So Keith and Lance played cat and mouse. Lance ran away from Keith’s blows, which kept coming. Keith didn’t seem to get tired, not even after 20 minutes of this game. He continued to swing his sword, and Lance continued to dodge. But Lance was human, and was getting tired. He had already gotten a couple of grazes from Keith during times he had failed to dodge, and couldn’t afford to be stabbed with the sword. 

About 25 minutes in, Keith stopped swinging his sword. He turned to Lance and began to whisper, “You’re worth nothing. You’re the weakest paladin, a fifth wheel.” He then began to jab at Lance again. Lance had a slower reaction time this time. The sword stabbed a small part of his stomach, but not enough to cause too much pain. Still, a wound is a wound, and he cried out in pain. He rolled to the right, just as Keith stabbed where he would have been. 

 

What was that he said? That Lance was worth nothing? A fifth wheel?  _ Did Keith really think that?  _ Lance thought, ducking as Keith swung his sword.  _ He must.  _ Keith stopped again, and whispered, “You’re an extra. You’re not needed. No one needs you, Lance.” He slashed, grazing Lance again. 

 

Every few minutes now, Keith would stop, and say something, allowing him to stun Lance for a few seconds, and slash at him. Lance kept mulling over the things Keith said, and that got him grazed and stabbed a few times. They continued to dance like this for a half hour. 

 

Until Keith was able to catch his mouse with his claw. 


	9. Hour 3, Part 2

Keith had driven his sword into Lance’s stomach. Lance had made the mistake of dodging, but he had miscalculated, and landed right in front of the blade. Lance fell to the ground. As Lance fell, Lotor pressed something on his device.

 

The button he pressed took Keith out of his control. Keith swayed in place for a second, until he realized where he was, and remembered what he did. He looked to his feet, where Lance lay. A large pool of blood had began to grow around Lance’s body. 

 

“No..no,no,no,” Keith whispered as kneeled down. He took Lance in his arms. Lance was still breathing. 

 

“Hey...Keith…,” Lance said softly. “Looks like I’ve been impaled.” Lance let out a small laugh, and reached up with his right hand to wipe away the tears that had started to fall from Keith’s face. “Why...are you crying?” Lance asked Keith. “I’m okay.” 

 

Keith continued to cry, no matter how many times Lance protested. “You know… this reminds me of something…,” Lance said, with a slight smirk. He was starting to have trouble breathing, and was getting a little pale. Keith let out a small laugh.

 

“So you do remember,” he whispered. Lance nodded his head slightly, trying his best to stay breathing. Lance’s smirk started to fade away, and a small tear started to roll down his cheek. 

 

“I-I wish… I wish I had… told you...sooner,” Lance mumbled. A wind was blowing on his flame. He didn’t have much time left. 

 

“Told me what, sharpshooter?” Keith asked, through his tears. The pool of blood was getting larger, and soon it would be too large. 

 

“Told you…,” Lance repeated, “Told you that you became my best friend.” Lance gave a slight smile again, and more tears started to fall from his face. 

 

“You were my best friend too, space ranger partner,” Keith said, as more tears had began to flow, at a faster pace. 

 

Lance took a shaky breath, and began to sing, 

“ _ I’m lucky I’m in love with my best friend _

_ Lucky to have been where I have been _

_ Lucky to be coming home again _

 

_ They don’t know how long it takes _

_ Waiting for a love like this _

_ Every time we say goodbye _

_ I wish we had one more kiss _

_ I’ll wait for you, I promise you, I will,” _ Lance couldn’t sing anymore, all he could do is look at Keith.

 

Keith knew what he had to do. He began to sing, taking in a shaky breath, 

“ _ I’m lucky I’m in love with my best friend _

_ Lucky to have been where I have been _

_ Lucky to be coming home again,”  _ Keith ended his verse there, as Lance was looking at him, giving him a soft smile, as the wind blew the flame out. 

 


	10. Hour 4

Lance was dead. That’s the truth. No twists, no turns. Lance McClain, the Cuban boy who was dragged into space by a robotic blue lion, the team sharpshooter, and Keith’s best friend, was dead. And Keith refused to believe that. 

 

He tried CPR. He tried to cover the wound with a stray piece of cloth from Lance’s armor. He tried everything. Nothing would bring him back. Lotor was still watching. He had watched everything. And he was still smiling. 

 

“Looks like the show’s over,” he said, standing up. “You are free to go.” Keith looked up at Lotor. As he did, a door opened behind him, leading him back to the hallway that would take him to the lions. “Oh, and,” said Lotor as he reached the door, “I’m sorry for your loss.” With that, Lotor left the arena. The door remained open. 

 

Keith didn’t move. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t believe that out of all the people to fall to the mercy of his blade, that Lance had. He continued to cradle Lance, and whisper  _ I’m sorry _ ’s and  _ I love you _ ’s, in hoped that he would be able to relight the candle. But he didn’t know he had no matches. 

 

The thing was, the four hours were soon up, and his com turned back on, just as he was whispering a final  _ I love you.  _ “Keith! Lance! Can you hear us?” Pidge’s voice began to be heard from the static. Keith could hear her, but he didn’t answer. That also meant, Pidge and the rest of the team could hear Keith and his sobs. 

 

“Oh no,” whispered Hunk through the com. “We need to get in there now!” Keith ignored his voice too. He ignored them the entire 20 minutes they were speaking, trying to get through to him and trying to get his location.

 

They finally made it to him, about half an hour later. Hunk was the first to see Keith, who turned his head to face them, his eyes and face red from crying. “No..,” Hunk said softly, as he and the rest of the team ran to his side. Then they saw Lance’s body. 

 

Lance still had a smile on his face from when he was singing. He looked happy. If only he wasn’t so pale, the sword wasn’t still in his stomach, and the pool of blood wasn’t there. Then he would be here, with them. The team said nothing, as Keith stood, still holding Lance. Allura silently went to go help him, but Keith shoved her away. This was his fault, his responsibility. 

 

Lotor sent no one after them, no guards, no drones. They were able to leave his ship quietly. Allura had whispered to Coran what had happened while they walked to the lions. Pidge was crying, but tried her best to hide it. They all were. 

 

Keith brought Lance into the black lion, and put him on a bench in the back. He then took them home. The others watched as the lion disappeared into the castle’s bay. “How are we going to get the red lion back?” Pidge whispered to Allura. Just as she was about to answer, both the red and blue lions let out an ear splitting cry. Together, in sync, they headed back to the castle. As they did so, they began to emit a pink aura, the color of fallen warriors on Altea, the planet they were forged on. Allura went with Pidge in her lion back home. 

 

That night, everyone wore pink, and the galaxy they were in decorated itself in displays of blue, in memoriam of the Cuban boy who just wanted to see rain, the sea, and most of all, see his family and home one more time. 


	11. After Hour 4, Part 1

Keith hadn’t left his room in a week. He just sat on his bed, and watched space go by, sometimes taking out Lance’s phone (which he had saved from his suit), and watching the videos of him he had taken of himself. All of them were of him telling his family about his adventures in space. Today marked a week since Keith had killed Lance. 

 

He took out the phone, and opened a video he had watched almost a hundred times.  _ Hey familia!,  _ Lance in the video started out with, waving his hand. He set the phone on a desk in front of his bed, then sat down on his bed. He was smiling wide, and blushing slightly. His jacket was on his right, and he was wearing his blue t-shirt. The tears started to fall down Keith’s face. 

 

_ Sorry I haven’t been home. I’ve been out in space!, _ Lance let out a small laugh,  _ Of course, you guys already knew that if you’ve seen my other videos. Oh and before I forget,  _ Lance got up and went out of sight for a second, before he came back with a small toy doll he had sewn. It looked very similar an Altean, but had short black hair, and green eyes.  _ Happy birthday, Nico! I made you a doll, just like you wanted. I’m sorry I can’t send it to you, but I will give it to you when I get back! Love you, amigo.  _ He put down the doll, and took a small piece of paper out of his jacket pocket. 

 

_ And Bianca, look! I was able to get an alien to sign a paper for you! It’s proof aliens exist,  _ Lance moved the paper to the center of the screen. It was blurry for a second, then focused to see the name “Keith” written in bold, black letters.  _ You’ll meet him too when I get back! He’s...a friend of mine.  _ At this, Lance’s blush was more prominent.  _ Hopefully, he won’t be just a friend when I get back.  _ This was the point where Keith usually stopped watching, mainly because he cried so hard. He did the same thing this time. He paused the video, and put the phone down on his bed. 

 

He backed up to a wall, then sank to the ground. His thoughts consisted of one word,  _ murderer.  _ He had killed Lance. He was the one to blame for Lance not being able to give the doll to his nephew, Nico. It was his fault Bianca wouldn’t be able to talk about aliens with his uncle. Keith was to blame. 

_ Looks like my dream came true,  _ Keith thought.  _ I really am a murderer.  _


	12. After Hour 4, Part 2 FINAL CHAPTER

The following day was the funeral. They couldn’t go back to Earth, and all of them agreed Lance would not want to be buried on some strange alien planet. Pidge suggested cremation, but then Hunk brought up his fear of flame, and they agreed to not do that. It was Keith who said that they should send him into space, into the place he loved with all his heart. 

 

So that’s what they did. A capsule was prepared by the mice and Allura, who decorated it with Altean flowers. Lance’s body was placed inside of the capsule (it had been stored in another capsule aboard the ship). Everyone dressed in pink, with accents of blue, to honor Lance. Lance’s body was open in the capsule, everyone dropping a flower over the wound as they made their speeches. 

 

Everyone made a speech, even the mice. They had Allura translate for them. In their speeches, memories, and stories were shared. Everyone laughed a little, but cried more. Ryou and Matt made their speech together, doing a small skit. That made everyone laugh, and ended with Matt saying, “Lance would’ve wanted us to put the ‘fun’ in ‘funeral’.”

 

Then it was Keith’s turn. He had a flower crown in one hand, and a small piece of paper in the other. He put the flower crown on Lance’s head, his eyes lingering on Lance’s face for a few seconds, before clearing his throat and beginning his speech. 

 

“Lance was my partner. We were together on many missions, and were always by each other’s side…,” he read the beginning of his speech from the paper. It was generic. “ _ He was important to all of us, may he rest in peace,”  _ etc. After he got to the end of the paper, he crumpled it up and put it into his pocket. 

 

“That wasn’t the speech I wanted to make,” he said. “I want to tell you how he died.” Everyone was surprised. They all wanted to know of course, and had no idea that Keith had killed him. They had just seen Lance in Keith’s arms, and assumed that Lotor or Zarkon did something. 

 

Keith took a deep breath and began the story. He described how Lotor tricked them, how the net fell, when they entered the arena, when Lance was injected with the serum. He described all of it with a still face, showing no emotion. He wanted to get this over and done with as fast as he could. The others listened intently, and were, of course, shedding a few tears. 

 

“...and Lance and I were forced to fight each other,” Keith finished his sentence. Now was the hard part. He was going to have to describe how he killed him. He took a shaky breath, and continued, “Lotor put me under his control, and I took a sword from the pile. Lance had his bayard, but-but he r-refused to fight m-me,” Keith was beginning to stammer, and tears were starting to rush like a river down his face. He remembered how Lance had wiped them away a week ago. He wished he was here to wipe them away now. 

 

“It’s okay, Keith,” Allura said. “You don’t have to finish.”

 

“No...I have to,” Keith replied. “We fought-I fought, for about half an hour. Lance dodged many of my blows, but he miscalculated on his final move, and I stabbed him in his stomach. Lotor released me out of his control just in time for me to see Lance fall to the ground.” Keith was sobbing now. He was ready for the rest of the team to ridicule him, all him a traitor, a murderer, and exile him. He didn’t expect everyone to get up and give him a hug. 

 

He pushed them away at first, then embraced it. They all cried together, in one big group hug, as Keith forced out the rest of the story, “I held him, and he told me he loved me. We sang a song together as he passed.” The others hugged Keith harder, and cried harder. They stayed like this for almost an hour.

 

It was time to send Lance back to space. Before they sent him out, keith added one final item to the capsule: Keith’s jacket. It was something Lance had teased about him wanting, and Keith thought that they would be together at this point if he lived, so he added it. He wrapped it around the wound, completely concealing it. He gently kissed his forehead before Coran closed off the top. Everyone gathered by the window to watch the capsule leave. It went out slowly at first, then sped up, until it was out of sight. Until Lance, the Blue Paladin, Lancey Lance, Sharpshooter, was out of sight. 

 

Everyone began to slowly trickle out of the room, soon only leaving Keith still staring out the window. After everyone left, he began to sing,

“ _ I’m lucky I’m in love with my best friend _

_ Lucky to have been where I have been _

_ Lucky to be coming home again _

 

_ Lucky we’re in love in every way _

_ Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed _

_ Lucky to be coming home someday.” _

 

He ended the song there, and as fell asleep where he lay, he remembered when Lance was there to help him through his dreams, just a week ago. 

 

If only he were here now, then maybe Keith wouldn’t have joined him in oblivion.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
